Sea port to become green hydrogen hub in Germany

The energy crisis has had a severe impact on the German economy. The nation suffered economic losses of around 60 billion euros last year as a result of rising energy costs. According to German Minister of Economic Affairs Robert Habeck, that number this year might easily reach 100 billion euros.

A floating LNG terminal import could lessen the pain a little, but further strategies are required in the future to cut back on the use of fossil fuels.

According to Reuters, Wilhelmshaven’s port area should have a solution. Wilhelmshaven is a city in northern Germany. Several energy businesses are making investments in green hydrogen generation, CO2 storage facilities, and the required infrastructure for mass green hydrogen and ammonia imports. More than 5 billion euros will be invested in the area’s transformation overall, up to and including 2030.

Energy Hub Port Wilhelmshaven is the name of the consortium that is carrying out the plans. The energy behemoths E.ON, RWE, and Orsted are among the partnership’s more than thirty members.

The investments are also covered in considerable detail. Germany’s first floating LNG terminal, for instance, is already present at Wilhelmshaven, but a second one needs to be added before the year is up. A minimum of 1 gigawatt of green hydrogen generation capacity must also be constructed in Wilhelmshaven. Papermaker PKV is looking at the possibility of reusing the waste heat from the planned electrolysis plants.

Over 1 billion euros will be invested in the BlueHyNow and CO2nnectNow projects in the port region by the German energy corporation Wintershall Dea. The project BlueHyNow uses natural gas to create hydrogen. This process produces CO2, which is collected and transported in liquid form to Norway and Denmark, where it is stored. Transporting the CO2 that has been captured must be handled through CO2nnectNow.

If all goes as planned, the port region may supply 25% of Germany’s hydrogen needs. 2.6 million tonnes of green ammonia must also enter the port annually.

It has already been revealed that the US startup First Ammonia plans to manufacture a significant amount of green hydrogen in Wilhelmshaven. Green ammonia can then be produced by the startup by mixing it with nitrogen.